Amigos look and play like champions

Just mention hand-me-downs and the reaction will likely be a groan followed by recollections of being the unfortunate recipient of one's older siblings' second-hand clothing.

Perhaps the clothes were out of style, they didn't fit, or the individual missed the luxury of being able to shop for their own clothes.

However, mention hand-me-downs to the Tennessee Amigos basketball team and you'll get the opposite reaction. These ladies don't regard their uniforms as hand-me-downs, but rather as a hand-up. They also wear their secondhand uniforms with pride, which is quite understandable especially when those uniforms are courtesy of the Tennessee Lady Vols.

It seems as if a bit of the Lady Vols' championship history may have transferred over with the hand-me-down garb. The Amigos, sporting their "used" orange and white uniforms, were successful in both their district and state competitions, which qualified the team for the National Senior Games at Stanford University in California last month.

With eight players from Knox, Cumberland, Jefferson, White, Bradley and Davidson counties, the Tennessee Amigos played in the 65-69 age group. On the first day of competition, the Amigos went 4-0 in pool play, defeating teams from Connecticut (35-30), New Mexico (27-17), California (41-17), and Pennsylvania (40-19).

The Amigos advanced to the winners' bracket where they beat another New Mexico team (35-16), North Carolina (42-17), and Oklahoma (39-17).

On day three, the Connecticut Bouncers, true to their name, bounced out of the losers' bracket to challenge Tennessee once again. The Amigos' defense prevailed as Tennessee deflated the Bouncers 29-20.

In the championship game, the Amigos battled through overtime to beat the Michigan Spirits 29-27 for the national title.

According to Madge Susong, "the gold medals looked great on the Big Orange uniforms!"

Table Talk: Four members of the Knoxville Table Tennis Club - Ruth Gove, Dorothy Rose, Dwain Kitchel and Bill Neely - also competed in the National Senior Olympics, joining 150 other competitors.

In the 65-69 age group, Kitchel and Alice Tym (Chattanooga) won a bronze medal in mixed doubles, while Gove and Tym took fifthin women's doubles. Gove also won a silver in the 70-74 singles. She then paired with Neely to win a bronze in mixed doubles.

In the 75-79 singles, Kitchel won silver and Neely placed fourth. Kitchel and Neely also won a silver in doubles.

Rose, who placed eighth in the 80-84 singles table tennis, also earned a bronze in horseshoes.

Between The Posts: More than 50 teams competed in the Knoxville Football Club Crush Kick-Off Classic that took place Aug. 22-23 at various area parks. The KFC Crush '99 boys' soccer team, a merger of the Portugal Blue and North teams, moved up an age division and won four consecutive games to claim the championship title.

The Crush '99 boys followed their Kick-Off Classic success by winning the Liberty Soccerfest title game 6-0 last weekend in Vestavia Hills, Ala. The Crush competed against seven other teams in their respective division and allowed only three goals throughout the entire tournament.

KFC Crush '99 consists of players from Knoxville, Seymour, and Blount County. The team, coached by Darrick Lubell, is ranked No. 3 in Tennessee and 26th nationally by soccerincollege.com.

In The Scrum: The University of Tennessee Men's Rugby Team will open its fall season with the annual Family Weekend, Sept. 18-19. Parents are invited to attend a reception hosted by coach Butch Robertson on Friday evening. The following day, the Vols will host the Atlanta Old White, the University of Kentucky and Western Carolina University at the new Tennessee RugbyPark, 8051 Oak Ridge Highway.

The Rugby Vols will also compete in the MidSouth Collegiate Challenge Sept. 26 at the Tennessee RugbyPark. The event features a jamboree style format that will allow coaches to evaluate candidates for the MidSouth Collegiate All-Star team. Teams confirmed to play include Arkansas State, Bryan College, Lee University, MTSU, Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin and Vanderbilt.